Ms Niamh Daffy:

Sport and physical activity are central to the fabric of life in Ireland. Perhaps now more than ever there is a growing awareness and understanding that peoples' lives can be enhanced through participation in sport and physical activity, especially by improving health and well-being, increasing social interaction and empowering people to be the best they can be. As citizens of this State, people with disabilities deserve to have equal opportunities to experience the benefits of participating in sport and physical activity. This, we believe, is a basic human right.

I am delighted to join the Chairperson and members of the committee along with my colleague, Mr. Odhrán Doherty, to outline to the committee some key developments in disability sport and inclusive physical activity. While there have been many positive developments in the provision of sport and physical activity opportunities for people with disabilities, with a number of organisations doing great work, research indicates that individuals with disabilities are far less likely to participate in sport and physical activity, volunteer for sport, be a sports club member or attend a sporting event than are those without a disability.

Cara - Sport Inclusion Ireland is a national pan-disability organisation designated to provide leadership and support across policy and programme development specific to the participation of people with disabilities in sport and physical activity. Our organisation aligns with and supports the objectives of the national sports policy, Sport Ireland's policy on the participation of people with disabilities in sport, the national physical activity plan, Healthy Ireland's framework and the national disability inclusion strategy. With a vision of "Putting Disability Sport and Inclusive Physical Activity at the Heart of Our Nation", our work is focused on reducing the gradients that exist in respect of the participation of people with disabilities in sport and physical activity.

Central to our organisation is the voice of people with disabilities. In December 2019, in partnership with Sport Ireland, we launched Ireland's first ever sports inclusion disability charter, developed through collaboration and in consultation with people with disabilities. The charter sets out five principles which people with disabilities have identified as key to ensuring that organisations adopt an inclusive approach to their programmes and sport and physical activity offerings. Over 1,400 organisations have signed the charter, pledging their commitment to provide people with disabilities with increased opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity. This number must increase. Building on the principles of the charter, we continue to work very closely with the local sports partnerships and their sports inclusion disabilities officers, providing support, resources, inclusive training, co-ordination of national initiatives and, most recently, the roll-out of the Xcessible programme, which provides a three-staged resourced pathway for local sports partnerships to adopt an overall inclusive culture across their organisations.

We have seen a most notable increase in the number of national governing bodies of sport committing to providing people with disabilities with opportunities to participate in their sports. Over recent years we have supported national governing bodies in the delivery of inclusive training workshops to their boards, staff and volunteer networks, provided guidance in programme design and developed and implemented an Xcessible programme for inclusion for national governing bodies.

Building capacity across the sports sector has been a key priority for Cara. With the support of Sport Ireland and in collaboration with a number of key organisations, we have designed a range of inclusive training workshops targeting sport, health, education, fitness and the outdoors sector. Over the past 18 months, like many organisations, we adapted our approach and, through the design and development of an online inclusive programme, we delivered a total of 235 workshops virtually to more than 3,600 participants.

We have recently embarked on a new collaborative initiative alongside the HSE and Sport Ireland, which is the design and delivery of an online physical activity education programme specifically for people with disabilities. Active Healthy Me is being delivered across 20 adult day services and, later this year, will be launched for national roll-out and available to all adult day services and residential settings throughout Ireland.

At a time when outdoor recreational activity has gained a higher profile, through funding support from Sport Ireland we have recently appointed Ireland's first ever inclusive outdoor co-ordinator, who will work in collaboration with the sector to increase awareness, access and opportunities to outdoor recreational environments and activities for people with disabilities.

Before the pandemic, we had started to see a gradual improvement in the participation of people with disabilities in sport and physical activity across Ireland. There were certainly more opportunities opening up, more awareness across the sector and increased cross-collaboration. In our efforts to address some of the challenges presented as a result of the pandemic, we are delighted to be part of a national disability sport forum comprising representatives from Special Olympics Ireland, Irish Wheelchair Association - Sport, Paralympics Ireland, Vision Sports Ireland and the local sports partnerships, where we recognise the work in hand to overcome the extra challenges brought by the pandemic. Together with our partner organisations, we want people with disabilities to be at the heart of our nation's recovery.

As we move forward in developing a new strategy for our organisation, a strategy which will be insights-led and will set out an ambitious ten-year vision, we look forward to working with the committee and Departments in continuing to support the programme for Government and national policy objectives.

Now, at a time when sport and physical activity have gained a higher platform of importance, we must seize this opportunity and re-evaluate how we can not only continue to embed the principles of inclusion across the sport and physical activity sector but also expand our reach and supports across the education, health and disability sectors. More importantly, we must continue to engage with and listen to the needs identified by people with disabilities so we can collectively ensure that the necessary infrastructure and supports are in place to achieve our vision of putting disability sport and inclusive physical activity at the heart of our nation.

I would like to thank the Government and committee for the support to date. I thank all of the members of the committee for their time. Mr. Doherty and I welcome any questions members may have.